Six Dance Lessons: Miami
Review by Karen M (March/April 2003)
The play was terrific. It's very well-written, and both Mark Hamill and Rue McClanahan gave stellar performances. I and the rest of the gang were asking others in the audience what they thought of it, during intermissions, and getting comments like, "I like every single part of it -- and they're both wonderful!" It's hysterically funny and very sweet, even on multiple viewings; I saw it essentially 5 times, and the last time I was cracking up just as much as I had the first time, and crying at the intensely touching parts just as I did the first time. The audience was often breaking into spontaneous applause at especially funny lines and bits, and they gave Mark and Rue a standing ovation after all the performances but one (that one was the Sunday afternoon show, where the performance was great, but the audience was really out of it -- mostly senior citizens who seemingly couldn't hear very well).
The story is about a lonely widow who hires a younger male dance instructor to come to her home. The dance instructor, Michael Minetti, is wired to the max and obnoxious, but in a funny way -- he has absolutely no social skills, but he tries to be friendly in his mostly inappropriate way, making all kinds of off-the-wall comments and attempts at humor that only offend the widow, Lily Harrison. So they instantly rub each other the wrong way, and he nearly gets fired in the first few minutes. But little by little, the two of them start to open up and reveal secrets about themselves to each other, even though they frequently revert to arguing and insulting each other as well. Gradually they develop a friendship that changes both of their lives.
Mark's performance each night, especially the last night we were there, was *very* high-energy. His character is constantly in motion, clowning around, dancing around or stomping around, depending on his wildly fluctuating moods; he's so hyper that Rue's character at one point tells him to cut down on caffeine or increase his dosage of ritalin. (He has a great moment when he yells at her, "I'm not crazy, I'm Italian! This is normal behavior for us!") He does all kinds of funny facial expressions and clowns around with different accents and voices; it was a totally manic performance -- except when the character was very serious or emotionally touched, and then he'd shift gears and convey very moving compassion in his face and voice; some of those moments made me tear up. For someone like me who's sat through a pile of those awful B-movies feeling totally frustrated and thinking, "But he could do so much *more* if they'd just give him a character with some range and some good lines," this was like the healing balm for all the hours of suffering.
It was great to see the audience giving him -- along with Rue, of course -- such appreciation. This was an audience of probably 600 or so people each time (I'd estimate it at that, anyway), and by and large (except for the crowd with the hearing problems) they were absolutely wowed by his performance and showed it with applause and laughter; it was great to hear and see it. At the intermissions I heard comments like, "I had no idea he could be so funny" and "Who knew that Mark Hamill could do something like this?" Sometimes this would be accompanied by something annoying like, "I thought he was just Luke Skywalker," but on the other hand, the tone they were speaking in now was one of admiration and appreciation. All in all, the show was a triumph for Mark. I hope it goes to Broadway, so more people will get a chance to appreciate his talent. .